Youtube videos rank incredibly well, especially for low-competition phrases which brand terms usually are. On top of that, they usually get that “rich snippet” treatment in search results (diverting searchers’ attention from other (quite possibly negative) listings that mention the brand.

Both of these factors make Youtube an indispensable weapon in the hands of a smart reputation campaign manager.

But there’s more to it. One Youtube channel may be optimized for holding top positions for many brand-related queries. I have once explained how you should be monitoring all kinds of search phrases that contain your brand name and how you need to make sure that you are ranking for all of those long queries that include your name.

But even better, you want to rank #1-#5 for these terms and since it may be impossible with only one domain, using a variety of digital assets (videos, podcasts, PowerPoint decks) which can be spread across different sites (Youtube, SoundCloud, SlideShare, etc.) make the task quite doable. You own all of these channels, so you can edit them whenever you need which make them perfect search engine position holders.

This is where a well-optimized Youtube channel comes in handy, the reason being that Youtube offers all types of ranking opportunities, some even don’t require creating any fresh content.

So let’s get deeper into that:

1. Optimize Your Videos

The first step is to optimize your existing videos. You will not believe it how easy it is to get a Youtube video ranked, once the video page has enough text content on it.

I use the following checklist to optimize Youtube videos:

You also want to run a keyword research tool to get more ideas for video titles and tags. I use Serpstat because it gives the best variety of keyword phrases, in my experience. It’s also the most affordable one. Try running their cluster research tool to discover some alternative and related phrases you wouldn’t even have tried using without it:

2. Repackage Content into Videos for More Uploads

An easy way to produce more videos on the cheap is to repackage your existing content into video format. I am doing it quite on the cheap by making lots of screenshots and shooting quick screencasts and using the voiceover from my article content. I put everything together in iMovie because it’s the easiest. One video like that takes an hour or two and it may cost you nothing.

Quick tip: Youtube engagement impacts video rankings and visibility. It’s a smart idea to use Gmail filters to properly deal with your Youtube interactions. Here’s a good guide on Gmail filters and Gmail account overall.

I managed to put together the whole Udemy course based on my previously written articles that way.

3. Create Playlists

Playlists may not get a rich snippet treatment in Google results but it’s the easiest way to put together rankable page without creating any content.

A quick example is our Jim And Ann show. Notice the playlist I created to organize all the videos ranks together with one of the videos from the series for the podcast name:

Creating a playlist takes a few minutes and to help it get indexed and ranked you’ll probably need a link from your site.

4. Create Clickable Links within a Video

Now, this is not about ranking your Youtube content but it’s definitely a must-take step. Always make sure there are clickable links back to your site right from within each video. This way you’ll make sure your Youtube videos drive people back to your site where they will become customers or subscribers.

Here’s how to do that:

• Tie your site to your Youtube channel using Google Search Console (if you haven’t yet done that)
• Make sure you have “Good standing” flags everywhere inside your account
• Use both cards and clickable end screens to each of your videos

It’s a good idea to display your videos on your site to generate more video views (it will help videos rank because Youtube rankings are very much effected by video engagement). Colorlib lists some cool WordPress things that will help you easily do so.

Now just watch your Youtube content rank in Google for your brand navigational queries!

Do you have Youtube tips to share? Please do so in the comments below!